Introduction to Just War Theory and World War II
World War II, fought between September 1, 1939 and September 2, 1945, was the world’s most widespread war ever to occur. Involved in this war were 30 different countries and over 100 million people. The War in the Pacific was fought predominantly between the Dutch, Americans, Australian’s, New Zealanders, and the Japanese. As is applied to all wars, there are certain principles which are put in place to keep a war ‘fair’. These laws are called Just War Principles, or Jus ad Bellum/Jus in Bello. Jus in Bello Principles were not observed in the conflict between America and Japan in World War II, the difference of culture influenced the way in which both countries treated their prisoners and civilians, with the proportionality in the use of force being blatantly disregarded despite both ‘agreeing to the Geneva conventions’. Jus in Bello, the laws set in place to determine fair actions or motives, help to discern whether America and Japan treated each other in good faith, with regards to prisoners, and whether there was a distinction maintained between non-combatants and combatants for the duration of the war. The affect that this distinction had on strategical warfare for both sides is clearly seen by the proportionality in the use of force, and the excessiveness or adequateness of this force that was applied.